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Toronto Parks Atlas
Don Mills Local Park, site photograph
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Urban Plazacluster ·Underperforming / Leftover Spaces (enclosure-leaning)Banbury-Don Mills (42)confidence moderate

Don Mills Local Park

Urban Plaza, middle of the pack overall (score 38, rank ~64th percentile). Strongest: enclosure; weakest: natural comfort.

Aerial, City of Toronto orthophoto, ~8 cm/px source · cached 5/9/2026

Don Mills Local Park scores 37.8 / 100. Strongest dimensions: enclosure / eyes on park and connectivity. Weakest: edge activation (0). Border-vacuum risk is low. This score is a transparent reading of Jane Jacobs-style vitality factors, not a definitive judgment.

Best fordaily passing-throughpocket meetings

Area · 0.49 ha

What's here

Recreation
Playground
Facilities
Benches
Vitality Score
38/100

Weighted across six dimensions · confidence 68%

Data Confidence
37.8 / 100
Citywide
64th
of all 3,788 parks
Among Urban Plaza
46th
same primary typology
Expected for similar parks
42
median in small Urban Plaza (n=115)
Performance gap
-4
raw − expected · context confidence high
typical

Scores are not bell-curved. Percentiles and expected scores provide context without changing the underlying model.

Loading map…

The parks map is loading.
Street context. Park polygon highlighted on the citywide map.

Boundary: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Explain this score

Where did the 38 come from? Each weighted contribution against a neutral 50 baseline. Green = pushed up; red = pulled down.

Download JSON
What pushed this score up or down vs a neutral 50weight × score
Edge Activation0 · p27
-12.5
Amenity Diversity21 · p70
-5.8
Border Vacuum Risk0 (risk)
+5.0
Enclosure / Eyes on Park79 · p83
+2.9
Natural Comfort36 · p25
-2.2
Connectivity52 · p62
+0.4

Sum of contributions = the headline score. A negative bar means that dimension dragged the park below the city-wide neutral baseline.

Why this park works

Don Mills Local Park works because its enclosure score (79) is above average and its amenity diversity (21) is also above-average (17 mid-rise buildings frame the edge with passive surveillance).

What limits this park

Don Mills Local Park is held back by natural comfort (36, below-average): only 0% canopy means little summer shade.

Most distinctive characteristic

Most distinctive feature: exceptionally high enclosure (79, top quartile).

Jacobs reading

Don Mills Local Park sits between an urban social park and an ecological retreat: moderately useful for both, exceptionally suited to neither.

Tradeoffs

  • The park is enclosed by buildings (79) but the surrounding streets are quiet (edge activation 0): frame without animation.
  • 8 nearby towers cast wind and shadow without contributing canopy: passive surveillance is plentiful but human-scale comfort is not.

Typology classification

confidence 70%
Urban Plaza

Classified as Urban Plaza: 4870 m², paved (0% canopy), 13.2 buildings/100 m

Edge Activation

25% weightpartial 60%
0.0 / 100

Within 100 m of the park edge: 1 active uses (restaurant) and 6 dead/hostile uses (parking_lot). Active edges keep "eyes on the park" through the day; parking lots, blank institutional walls, rail and highway frontages drain street life.

Source: OSM POIs (amenity/shop) + Toronto Building Footprints + land use

Connectivity

20% weightmeasured 85%
51.8 / 100

Connectivity blends paths, intersections, transit, entrances, and edge density. This park has 0 mapped paths/walkways and 13 sidewalk segments within 50 m; 4 street intersections within 100 m; 18 transit stops within a 400 m walk; 0 estimated access points across ~303 m of perimeter. moderate edge density, small superblock penalty applied. Source coverage: centreline, pedestrian_network, transit_osm.

Streets within 25 m3
Intersections within 100 m4
Paths/walkways (50 m)0
Sidewalk segments (50 m)13
Transit stops (400 m)18
Estimated entrances0
Edge connections / 100 m perimeter0.99
Park perimeter303 m

Source: Toronto Centreline V2 + Pedestrian Network + OSM transit stops

Amenity Diversity

20% weightmeasured 75%
21.0 / 100

2 distinct amenity types in the park (playground, bench). Diversity, not raw count, drives the score so a park with many distinct activity types can outrank a larger park that repeats the same use.

Source: Toronto Parks & Recreation Facilities + OSM amenity tags

Natural Comfort

15% weightpartial 45%
35.6 / 100

Natural-comfort components for this park: ~2.1% effective canopy (0.0% from contiguous tree polygons + scattered tree density); nearest waterbody ~676 m; 3 city-mapped trees inside the polygon (3.0/ha). Reading: exposed. Source coverage: waterbodies, street_trees. Impervious surface is approximated (Toronto's authoritative layer ships only as a raster GeoTIFF).

Canopy coverage0.0%
Canopy area0.00 ha
Inside ravine system0.0%
Water surface inside park0.0%
Nearest water (if outside park)676 m
Estimated green100.0%
City-mapped trees inside polygon3
Tree density3.0 / ha
Cover diversity (Shannon, 0 to 100)0.0
Sample points used34

Source: Toronto Treed Area + Ravine + Waterbodies + Street Tree Inventory

Enclosure / Eyes on Park

10% weightmeasured 80%
79.2 / 100

40 buildings within 25 m of the park edge (17 mid-rise, 15 low-rise, 8 tower); avg edge height 27.3 m (~9 floors); 13.2 buildings per 100 m of 303 m perimeter (strong frontage density); edges lean tall but still framed; 8 towers ≥ 40 m within 25 m of the edge. "Eyes on the park" come strongest from the 17 mid-rise edge buildings.

Buildings within 25 m40
Buildings within 50 m40
Avg edge height27.3 m (~9 floors)
Tallest edge building106.1 m
Mid-rise (3 to 7 floors)17
Low-rise (< 3 floors)15
Towers (≥ 13 floors)8
Frontage density13.19 per 100 m perimeter
Mid-rise share of edge43%
Tower share of edge20%
Blank-edge share (proxy)0%
Park perimeter303 m

Source: Toronto 3D Massing (building footprints + heights)

Border Vacuum Risk

10% weightpartial 60%
0.0 risk

Park edges face the city. No significant border vacuum detected.

Source: Toronto Street Centreline (highways) + rail layer + OSM landuse + building footprints

Equity Context

contextinferred 15%
50.0 / 100

Equity Context requires inputs not yet loaded for this park (Toronto Neighbourhood Profiles). Score is held at a neutral 50 with low confidence. Read with caution.

Source: Toronto Neighbourhood Profiles

Amenities (2 types · 3 records)

  • playground
  • bench

Nearby active-edge features (39)

  • parking lot: Thompson House Parking68 m
  • parking lot79 m
  • parking lot87 m
  • restaurant: Mantra by Host89 m
  • parking lot: Reserved Parking90 m
  • parking lot92 m
  • parking lot92 m
  • restaurant: Nomé Izakaya101 m
  • community: Better Living Community Centre107 m
  • transit stop: The Donway West at Clock Tower Rd North Side108 m
  • retail: Anthropologie115 m
  • restaurant: Bier Markt119 m
  • parking lot125 m
  • transit stop: The Donway West at Clock Tower Rd North Side128 m
  • restaurant: Taylor's Landing129 m
  • parking lot129 m
  • cafe: Tim Hortons130 m
  • transit stop: 1 Overland Dr at Taylor Place138 m
  • retail: Hazukido142 m
  • parking lot144 m
  • parking lot: Church & Taylor Place Parking144 m
  • restaurant: Joey150 m
  • school: Seneca Hill Private School150 m
  • parking lot152 m
  • transit stop: 1050 Don Mills Rd - Shops On Don Mills157 m
  • parking lot158 m
  • restaurant: Anejo161 m
  • retail: L.L.Bean163 m
  • retail: LensCrafters164 m
  • restaurant: Rock'n Deli174 m
  • retail: Donato Salon & Spa175 m
  • retail: YellowKorner182 m
  • retail: Black Line Studio182 m
  • retail: Metro187 m
  • retail: Aphrodite Spa & Nails189 m
  • retail: Pandora191 m
  • retail: Freedom Mobile195 m
  • retail: Azadi Jewellery199 m
  • retail: Northboys199 m

Park profile

Five-axis radar across the structural dimensions.

Edge ActivationConnectivityAmenity DiversityNatural ComfortEnclosureDon Mills Local Park
Edge activation, connectivity, amenity diversity, natural comfort, and enclosure, each 0 to 100.

Citywide percentile ranks

Across all Toronto parks in the dataset.

  • Overall vitality
    64th
  • Edge activation
    27th
  • Connectivity
    62th
  • Amenity diversity
    70th
  • Natural comfort
    25th
  • Enclosure
    83th

Most similar parks

Closest in metric space across the five structural dimensions.

Most opposite parks

Furthest in metric space. Useful for recognising what kind of park this isn’t.

Human activity signals: not available

No activity signals have landed for this park yet. The model has scored its physical form but it can’t yet say how often it’s programmed, photographed, or walked through. See /data-ethics for what we will and will not collect.

Does this score feel accurate?

Your read of Don Mills Local Parkmatters. We’re testing whether the model lines up with how people actually use the park. Submissions are stored locally; no account needed.

Tell us how this park feels

We measure structure (canopy, edges, connectivity). You measure feeling. Both matter, and disagreement is itself useful civic data.

Rate this park on as many dimensions as you have an opinion about. 1 = not at all, 5 = strongly. Skip the ones you don't feel sure about. Aggregated only, no comments stored at the row level.

feels socially active
feels comfortable
feels safe
feels connected
feels welcoming
feels ecological / natural
feels good for lingering
feels family-friendly
feels culturally important
70%

What would improve this park?

Generated from the weakest measured dimensions: a starting point, not a prescription.

  • Activate the edges: encourage cafés, retail or community uses on the streets that face the park; replace blank or parking-lot edges where possible.
  • Diversify what people can do in the park (playground, washroom, water, shade, performance, sport, garden): even small additions raise this score.
  • Increase canopy and reduce paved area. Shade and water features extend usable hours and seasons.

Data sources

real Toronto data
  • City of Toronto Open Data: Parks (Green Space)
    Polygon boundaries, official names, types. Boundaries are reconciled against OpenStreetMap (ODbL) for new and updated parks.
  • Parks & Recreation Facilities
    Inventory of in-park amenities (washrooms, fields, rinks…).
  • Toronto Pedestrian Network
    Sidewalk segments around and through parks; estimated park entrances.
  • Toronto Centreline V2
    Street segments + intersection nodes near park edges; trails and walkways.
  • Toronto 3D Massing
    Building footprints + heights for edge-building counts, frontage density, and tower-in-the-park risk.
  • Toronto Treed Area
    Tree canopy share inside park polygons via stratified-grid sampling.
  • Toronto Waterbodies & Rivers
    Water surface inside parks + nearest-water distance for cooling.
  • Ravine & Natural Feature Protection
    Ravine overlap as a cooling / natural-comfort signal.
  • Toronto Street Tree Inventory
    Tree count + density inside park polygons.
  • Neighbourhood Profiles
    (Pending) Equity context proxy.
  • OpenStreetMap (Overpass API)
    Cafés, restaurants, retail, transit stops, parking, highways, rail.